Sorry if I implied you said anything about a rescue being denied .. I meant to say that I had read several posts where other people had mentioned “the rescue was denied”.
Okay .. are we good now ..??
Thank you for clearing it up. I wasn't sure if you were taking me to task or not. I have seen those posts too. They are in error. Technically Sec. Def. Panetta or the commander of Africom, Gen. Ham, could have said 'no' to a rescue attempt from requests coming from below them. If they had we would know that by now. The chances that either one would make that decision without consulting the POTUS are almost zero.
Only one can say 'yes' and we know he didn't from the simple fact that there wasn't any rescue attempt. He might have said 'no' but he didn't have to. All he had to do was remain silent. He did one or the other.